Guide · Buying property

Buying property in Medellín as a foreigner: 7 checks before you pay

Updated September 2026 · By Alfredo Jaramillo, attorney · T.P. 93906

Foreigners can own real estate in Colombia on essentially the same terms as Colombian citizens, with limited exceptions in certain border and coastal zones. The risk in a Medellín purchase is almost never your nationality. It is the condition of the title, the identity of the person selling, and the way the money and the paperwork are handled.

These are the seven checks attorney Alfredo Jaramillo runs before a client pays anything.

1. The title certificate (certificado de tradición y libertad)

Every registered property in Colombia has a public record, the certificado de tradición y libertad, issued by the Registry Office (Oficina de Registro de Instrumentos Públicos). It shows the full chain of owners, mortgages, embargoes, liens, court orders and any limitation on the property.

What to look for: that the seller appears as the current owner, that there are no open mortgages or embargoes, and that the chain of transfers has no gaps or irregular annotations. A certificate older than a few weeks is not reliable. It must be fresh on the day you sign.

2. Who is actually selling

The person in front of you must be the registered owner or hold a valid power of attorney. Powers of attorney are a common point of failure: they may be expired, revoked, granted for a different purpose, or forged.

If the owner is married or in a registered partnership, the spouse or partner may need to sign. If the property belongs to a company or an estate, the paperwork changes completely. Verifying identity and authority before the deposit is what prevents the most expensive mistakes.

3. Taxes, fees and services are paid

Debts follow the property, not the person. Before closing, the seller must show that the municipal property tax (impuesto predial) is paid, that the building administration fees (cuota de administración) are current, and that utilities have no outstanding balance. Each of these has its own certificate (paz y salvo).

4. The promise of sale (promesa de compraventa)

In Colombia the purchase usually starts with a promesa de compraventa, a binding contract that fixes the price, the deadlines and the penalties if either side backs out. Deposits (arras) are typically paid at this stage.

This document deserves as much attention as the final deed. A poorly drafted promise can lock you into unfavorable dates, penalties or conditions that are hard to reverse.

5. The public deed and the registration

Ownership is transferred in two steps: the signing of a public deed (escritura pública) before a notary, and the registration of that deed at the Registry Office. Signing at the notary is not enough. Until the deed is registered, you are not the owner of record.

Both steps involve official costs and taxes that are normally shared between buyer and seller according to custom and the contract. Your attorney confirms who pays what, before you sign.

6. How the money moves

Pay through the banking system, never in cash, and only against documents that have been verified. Foreign buyers have one additional step: money brought into Colombia to buy property can be registered as foreign direct investment with the Banco de la República through the receiving bank.

That registration matters twice. It is what allows you to take the money out of the country later, and it is a requirement if you intend to apply for a visa based on the investment. That path is explained in the guide on the Colombia investor visa through real estate.

7. Asset forfeiture risk (extinción de dominio)

This is the check most foreign buyers have never heard of. Under Colombian law, property connected to illicit origin can be subject to extinción de dominio, a process in which the State takes the asset. Under certain conditions this can affect a later buyer as well.

That is why the background of the seller and the history of the property matter as much as the title itself. As a criminal defense attorney with more than 35 years of practice, Alfredo Jaramillo reviews this risk from the inside, before a client commits a single peso.

What a lawyer does in a purchase

A lawyer working for the buyer, and only for the buyer, studies the title, verifies the seller, reviews or drafts the promise of sale, coordinates the notary and the registration, and documents the money transfer so it serves you later. The real estate agent works for the sale. The notary certifies signatures. Neither of them represents your interests.

This guide is general information and not legal advice for a specific case. Every purchase depends on its own documents and facts.